TODAY'S PERSONAL FINANCE STORIES

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CBS.MarketWatch.com

It was just eight short weeks ago that it appeared, to bond traders anyway, that we were headed for a second Great Depression. The economy stubbornly refused to budge from its lethargy, unemployment lines kept growing and the possibility of deflation was an overriding threat. But there was rampant joy among those who buy and sell government securities as demand for their product soared as a result. That produced the lowest interest rates in 45 years. Now, it seems, things aren't so bad, which is not good for interest rates. Mortgages, in particular, have soared, rising for seven straight weeks to stand at their highest level in just over a year. For the moment, consumers seem willing to buy houses, trying to catch rates before they get wildly out of control. Read our mortgage coverage on today's Personal Finance pages, along with a primer on how to buy Medigap insurance and a look at consumer shopping patterns in July.

With mortgage rates where they are, it's more like the 1960s than the 1950s. And that's not all that horrible a trade.

Steve Kerch, Personal Finance Editor

U.S. mortgage rates reach 6.34%

Mortgage rates moved up for the seventh straight week, with the benchmark 30-year loan hitting a national average of 6.34 percent in the week ending Aug. 8, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The hike boosted the 30-year loan from 6.14 percent the previous week, and left it more than a full percentage point above the modern-day low of 5.21 percent touched June 13. The rate is the highest since Aug. 2, 2002, when the 30-year loan stood at 6.43 percent.

Due diligence on realty Web sites left to consumer

Homebuyers, home sellers and mortgage shoppers moved online in droves in recent years as the Internet put for-sale listing and interest-rate information at everyone's fingertips. That access to data empowered consumers, making them savvier in all aspects of the home transaction. But it's also made them something else: a valuable commodity. See Resident Authority

Aiming to fix retirement savers' bad habits

What investors in 401(k) and other retirement savings plans really need is a GPS device to point them toward their golden years. Which blend of stocks and bonds will achieve your retirement needs? How much risk must you take? How do you roll over 401(k) assets to a new employer's plan? When is company stock a poor choice? What happens after you retire and need the money? These are among the many investment questions that securities regulator NASD hopes its new online educational service will answer. See Mutual Understanding

Choosing Medigap coverage

On one hand, seniors shopping for extra insurance to plug holes in their Medicare coverage have it easy -- all they have to do is compare prices. Of course, prices are rarely what they seem. See Vital Signs

Progress on Medicare drug cards

Lawmakers are starting to agree on a way to provide seniors with prescription drug cards to bridge the gap until a permanent Medicare drug benefit arrives, congressional negotiators said. See full story

Congress urged to include poor in drug plan

Health experts urged lawmakers to approve a Medicare bill that retains prescription drug benefits for millions of poor people. More than 6 million low-income Medicare recipients would lose the drug benefits under a Senate-passed bill, according to a new study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank. See full story

Consumers forgo convenience for value

Consumers of all income levels are buying shoes at Payless ShoeSource, the low-cost shoe store, but fewer are doing so at the traditional department stores where they buy clothes, according to a consumer survey in July. See full story

Barron's top-funds list nothing to idolize

When you read Barron's "A Breed Apart," a review of the top 100 "fund managers who add real value," don't be surprised if you get the feeling that you're reading a press release for the "American Idol" teeny-bopper show. See SuperStar Funds

Will the real stock market please stand up?

You can tell wildly different stories about the stock market depending on the benchmark on which you focus. See Mark Hulbert

Manager likes Infosys, Applied Bio, Pitney Bowes

Just as famed Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz dominated college football on the field, Fighting Irish alum Jerome J. Heppelmann likes companies that dominate in their own fields. See The Stockpickers

Age-related bias complaints increase among Baby Boomers

Workers in their 40s and 50s are filing more and more age bias complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Urged on by the EEOC, Congress passed a law in 1967 to protect workers age 40 and older. See Marshall Loeb's Daily Money Tip

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